Posted onMay 8, 2013|Comments Off on Some warmth, some rain, and a little bit of sunshine just in time for Sunday…

Many weather addicts have given up looking at medium- and long-range forecasts over the past months – why depress yourself in advance unnecessarily! As we approach our big weekend, it makes sense to have a look at what the experts are saying. Since we’re jumping on grass, conditions in the run up to the event are almost more important than the conditions on the day itself.

Well… it could be a lot worse:
It’s going to be very breezy for the next few days and with luck that wind will offset some of the rain that’s due to fall. We may get a bit damp building the course on Friday evening but we should get away without rain gear at the show itself. Keep an eye on how things progress as the week goes on:

With new kids on the block, Inishowen, setting their sights on more silverware in the jumping arena, it’s going to be hot competition for the prized perpetual cups. Our horses are all relatively fit after the action of the Northwest League and Challenge so we should be in a position to defend our cups on our home turf!

We have a great dressage judge in Petra Kucklick and everybody should make the most of the opportunity to get her comments and feedback on their riding. Remember that everybody can ride a dressage test — it’s nothing more than what you do during a flatwork lesson or schooling session, except that the movements have to be ridden in a set sequence. If you’ve never ridden a test before but would like to give it a try, chat to somebody like Vera who has started at the very beginning and is now a pretty seasoned competitor.

Everybody’s help will be needed to make the event run smoothly. Most of all, however, we need every possible member to come out and compete on the day.

Pictured below: Damien rides his winning Intermediate test on Trial & Error at our 2012 Derby & Dressage show while Francis and Zak take on a rustic fence at Intermediate level in 2011.

Posted onJuly 16, 2012|Comments Off on The pros get in some practice in advance of competition weekend

The potential winners of our glittering perpetual cups might well be amongst the pros who turned out on Friday evening at Templemore to put in some serious jumping practice in advance of the Derby this coming weekend. While others enjoyed some less serious hacking on a rare beautiful evening, Francis oversaw an enjoyable session with Nadine, Leo, Geraldine, Paddy, Ruth and Rachael.

It’s all systems go now in the final countdown to Sunday’s big event. Many of you have been contacted and asked to undertake particular duties. If you haven’t been specifically pinpointed, don’t be shy about contacting John on 086 850 2284 to see how you can help out either on the day or in advance.

The course will be built on Friday evening and all hands are welcome.

Comments Off on The pros get in some practice in advance of competition weekend

Posted onMay 10, 2012|Comments Off on Spring Show in pictures and video *updated

Sally, ably assisted by Louise, documented the show on Sunday in great detail. Their still photos are now in the Gallery and Sally’s videos from the dressage arena, as well as few from the clear round jumping, are uploaded on the Media page. Orla was also in action with her camera and has captured some classic moments. See them in the Gallery Extra. Enjoy.

Posted onMay 8, 2012|Comments Off on Full results from Sunday’s Spring Show

Nadine has completed the paperwork for Sunday’s show and we can now publish the full results. Congratulations to everybody who competed (especially those who braved the dressage arena for the first time!) and well done to the winners.

Posted onMay 6, 2012|Comments Off on Francis lands in the limelight at Lenamore

A day which began in brilliant sunshine before turning briefly to rain and then switching back emphatically to sunshine will be best remembered as the time when Francis and Zak finally landed in the limelight. After years of knocking on the door, the beautifully turned out partnership were massively popular winners of the Take Your Own Line class which brought the curtain down on the day. Packie on Gypsy led the pack for most of the competition but Francis, who relishes the combined mental and equestrian challenge of this particular class, produced all the aces to take the honours for Letterkenny.

It was a day when things began slowly and built up quietly, with the car park bulging at the seams by the middle of the afternoon. An unusually high number of riders were competing at a new grade for the first time and all of them did themselves proud. The number of upgrades from Primary to Advanced Primary resulted in just two competitors, Denis and Hazel, competing for novice show jumping honours. It was Denis who took top honours over the jumps but Hazel had her revenge in the dressage arena, netting herself a dashing red cooler to rival Denis’s smart black bridle.

Rosaleen Harkin continued the good form she showed in the North West League with an excellent victory in the Advanced Primary show jumping. Liz, screeching in at the last moment with the lorry balancing hair-raisingly on two wheels, joined forces with Enda for a great win in the Primary & Advanced Primary Pairs class. In the dressage arena, Finola Murphy claimed the Advanced Primary red rosette and its accompanying red cooler before delivering her customary flatwork masterclass when finishing second in the Intermediate show jumping jump-off. One could spend quite a while debating where flatwork ends and dressage begins!

It was Packie who took the red rosette in that Intermediate competition after a very thrilling 7-way jump off which concluded the biggest class of the day. Top honours in the smaller Advanced Intermediate division went to Marina who delivered the only clear round in the competition.

The Intermediate dressage class again produced the biggest entry with Rachael McCrossan coming out on top. We all have personal goals and ambitions — one of Rachael’s was to win a cooler and she did just that. Well done! At the higher level, Nadine proved that motherhood is no obstacle to excellence when finishing top of the class in the Advanced Intermediate division. Great to see her back in action on Molly.

Many thanks to everybody who supported the show, either by competing or helping. As always, it was a most relaxed, friendly and enjoyable event. The pleasure of getting together with club mates and neighbouring rivals never wanes. Particular thanks to Patricia and Jackie for for judging, to Seamus and Orla for course building, to Audrey who worked flat out all day long on entries and scribing, to Sally and her camera, and most of all to Nadine and Damien who coordinated the entire event even though they weren’t actually responsible for it this year!

Full results to follow in due course. More photos too.

Pictured below: The crowd looks on; Francis plots his path to victory while the 4-strong judging panel concentrates; The smile says it all; and Cormac explains to Charlotte that he needed to cross the finish line before she helped him dismount.

The days are long and light and the hedgerows are green. The horses are beginning to look their summer best. It’s not going to be warm at our Spring Show in Lenamore but, with only a very occasional shower forecast, it looks like we’ll win the battle with the weather this time.

Show jumping kicks off at 11.30 with dressage beginning at 12.30 and running until 3pm. Remember to bring your AIRC card and, although you don’t need to present it when making your entry, you should have your horse’s passport with you every time he travels.

All help will be appreciated on the day. Even if you haven’t got a designated duty in advance, check with Damien or Cormac to see where you can give a hand as the action gets underway.

Best of luck for Sunday and for the rest of the show season. We all know that rosettes and prizes are nice to take home but everybody has their own very personal ambitions at a show and these are the most important ones.